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A Red Carpet for Young Guests

Travis Evans could meet his friends in just about any bar around Washington, but he is drawn to the Dignitary Bar at the Marriott Marquis, where he takes time to enjoy his favorite drink, an Old-Fashioned.

Mr. Evans likes the “dark, throwback-style whiskey bar,” which serves its bourbon with large ice cubes. “The ice melts more slowly,” said Mr. Evans, 34, a research assistant at a Washington think tank.

But the bar, with its wood paneling and stone trim, is throwback in style only — the hotel, which is attached to the Washington Convention Center, opened in May. The old-school décor is just one way that hotels like the Marriott Marquis are using design, with advanced technology, to attract younger customers.

For hotels that find the right formula, the market is substantial.

Younger travelers, from the so-called millennial generation, have $1.3 trillion to $1.7 trillion in total spending power, said Jeff Fromm, a marketing specialist and co-author of the book “Marketing to Millennials: Reach the Largest and Most Influential Generation of Consumers Ever.”

And they have priorities different from those of their older counterparts when it comes to a hotel, executives say: technology, health and fitness, and an interesting design that allows for interacting with other guests.

That is why the Marriott Marquis spent $4 million for art, including a soaring 56-foot-tall sculpture, “Birth of the American Flag” by Rodney Carroll of Baltimore, that dominates the 145-foot atrium lobby.

Andrea Dawson Sheehan, president of Dawson Design Associates, works with hotel owners to update or redesign their spaces to attract younger travelers.

“They want individualism,” she said of younger customers. “They work really hard. They work in cubicles. They want their freedom to be themselves.”

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Hotels, like the Willard InterContinental in Washington, aim to bring younger travelers in the door, whether to stay or just to spend time — and money— in the lobby, bars and restaurants.Credit
Drew Angerer for The New York Times

For example, she helped the Affinia 50 in New York, one of her clients, to feel like a residential space.

“They want communal space where they can get together with their friends,” said Brian Gehlich, general manager of the Affinia 50, at 50th Street and Third Avenue. “This generation is globally minded, but locally they really want to be connected to wherever they are.”

A stimulating design, Ms. Sheehan said, is central to making a hotel work for younger travelers. “It alters how they feel when they walk into the space,” she said.

As a result, hotel executives are commissioning or exhibiting work by area artists — part of an effort to avoid a cookie-cutter feeling.

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He also wants to be able to use Skype in his room to communicate with his fiancée, Katie Krackenberger, 30, who travels two weeks every month. Finally, he prefers a direct plug from his phone to the room’s music system.

“I’m really turned off if they charge to use Wi-Fi,” said Mr. Baker, an analyst with PJM Interconnection, an electric power industry company based in Valley Forge, Pa.

Dan Nadeau, general manager at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, said that it comes down to helping younger guests feel connected, from the Wi-Fi, to the interactive televisions, to communicating with guests through texting and apps.

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The Willard InterContinental has flat screen TVs, a texting app and offers newspapers from around the world electronically.Credit
Drew Angerer for The New York Times

His hotel is encouraging guests to text rather than call their requests to hotel staff before or during a stay. For example, Marriott recently started testing an app at 15 of its hotels, including the Marriott Marquis, that allows guests to text the hotel staff before they arrive.

“Guests can write, ‘I need a quiet room for this trip, down the hall, away from everyone,’ or ‘I want to be right by the elevator so I can get to the lobby quickly,’ ” Mr. Nadeau said.

The Willard InterContinental in Washington also has a texting app and offers newspapers from around the world electronically, said Patrick Birchall, a regional director for the hotel company.

Even the televisions are becoming connected. “Interactive TV allows them to push content from their device onto the TV or from the TV back to their mobile device,” Mr. Nadeau said.

Younger travelers are willing to pay more to get these services, analysts say.

“They’re not looking for the lowest price,” said Steve Cohen, vice president for insights at MMGY Global, a travel marketing organization with headquarters in Kansas City, Mo. “They’re looking for value for price.”

Hotels aim to bring younger travelers in the door, whether to stay or just to spend time — and money — in the lobby, bars and restaurants.

The most popular space at the Marriott Marquis, Mr. Nadeau said, is the High Velocity Sports Bar, which has 34 televisions and 48 kinds of beer, and attracts a crowd beyond the hotel’s overnight guests.

Fitness and spas also are important to younger travelers. For example, the Biltmore Hotel, a member of Leading Hotels of the World, in Coral Gables-Miami, Fla., has incorporated more than 100 instructor-led weekly classes into its fitness program, including Pilates, yoga, spinning and Zumba.

It is all part of an effort to help younger travelers experience the new and different when they stay at hotels.

“They’re still figuring out what they want in life,” said Ana Suarez, B Experience brand manager at the B Resort and Spa in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., near Orlando. “They might want to try a hot stone massage. You’re giving them the freedom to explore what they want.”

A version of this article appears in print on June 17, 2014, on Page B8 of the New York edition with the headline: A Red Carpet for Young Guests. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe